A’s Fire Manager Bob Geren

Added on Jun 09, 2011 by Scott in

MLB

Nine-game losing streaks are never a good thing in sports. Even in baseball with 162 games on the schedule. Bob Geren knows this all too well after the Oakland A’s fired him as manager today. Geren, a close friend of General Manager Billy Beane, spent four-plus seasons by the Bay and won zero division titles. Bob Melvin will take over for the remainder of the season.

The writing seemed to be on the wall for Geren after last month’s pointed comments by Brain Fuentes and Huston Street regarding his lack of communication skills and questionable managerial style. Scouts and execs from around the league piled on referring to him as one of, if not the worst mangers in baseball.

Since 2007, Geren compiled a less than stellar record of 334-376. In the eight seasons prior to Geren’s hiring, Oakland finished at least twelve games over .500 and won five American League West division pennants.

A talented and deep pitching staff was supposed to make the A’s contenders in the West. However, the aforementioned losing streak has left them at 27-36, eight games behind division-leading Texas. With pressure on and off the diamond building by the day, Beane had to make a move sooner rather than later.

Melvin is familiar with the AL West after spending the 2003-04 seasons in Seattle. He also served as manger of the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2005-2009, winning a division championship in 2007 and the NL Manager of the Year award.

The good news is it’s only June and plenty of season left to turn things around. The bad news is Oakland is one of the worst offensive teams in baseball. They rank 28th in the Majors in overall batting and have hit a league low 34 home runs. Their best hitter among everyday players is center fielder Coco Crisp with a .262 average.

Oakland begins a four-game series with the White Sox tonight.

Source: CBSSports.com